“Hi, it’s so nice to see you, I haven’t seen you in ages. Who’s this? Is this your grand dad?”
“No, it’s my dad.”
*crickets*
It’s funny that regardless of what age I might be, I always think back to the things my mum told me when I was growing up. Like any other mum, my mum is not perfect, she doesn’t know it all and in fact, as we both grow older, I find that she’s asking me a lot more questions than I ask her. Yet above it all, I still think back to a lot of the wise words my mum had for me.
One of the most important ones, funny enough, is never to guess the answer to your own question.
“How old is your little one? Is she 10?”
*crickets*
“No. She’s 6.” Stares with a silent ‘Are you saying she looks big/old?’
I can think of dozens of scenarios where I was saved from what would have been sheer embarrassment, if not for Mum’s advice.
I have seen friends stumble, colleagues, relatives, myself stumble. Even my husband was extremely susceptible to the guessing-your-own-answer habit when I first met him, until I bestowed upon him Mum’s wise words. I don’t know what it is that makes us people want to guess. Maybe it’s an egoistical smart-arsy thing; like “oh I know the answer!”. Maybe it’s a nice, well-intentioned thing; like “oh I know you very well so I want to show you that I know the answer.” Whatever it is, time has always proven that it’s best to take the safe route and never guess your own answers 😉
“How far along are you now in your pregnancy? Are you 3 months pregnant?”
“What? No, I’m 8 months pregnant. Does my belly look too small? Do you think everything’s ok?” Poor worried pregnant mum hyperventilates.
Little tricky conversations I’m sure many of us have had. I can’t count how many times my husband has come home telling me “Phew! Lucky I didn’t guess the answer to my question today! It would have gone down so, so so bad.”
Have you had a tricky conversation like this before? Do you tend to guess the answers to your questions?
We had someone ask if the kids were downstairs (and we said we didn’t have a downstairs) so they corrected with upstairs, and we had to point out we didn’t have that and our house was just small (evidently)
Hey Lydia! Haha yeah sometimes it’s better not to guess! x
Oh yes, if there is one thing I have learnt from my many years on this planet, it’s to never try and guess someone’s age or ask them about a hypothetical pregnancy! And yes, I found this out by making a goose of myself. More than once…
You’re not alone 😉 I’m sure we’ve all done something like that before haha!
That one piece of advice could save many an awkward moment! I think that is very wise. #teamIBOT
Hey Sophie! I think so too 🙂 x
That’s great advice! There is 11 years between my brother and I and growing up people would ask if he was mine. People tend to guess my age wrong too.
Hey Tegan! I think it’s good advice too. Sometimes it’s just better not to even guess! Saves us from any potentially embarrassing moments.
I had never once considered this! I’m going to make sure I put this in practice from now on. Could be very helpful!
Hey Jess! It’s good my mum pointed it out to me. If not, I might not have realised either!
Wise woman your mum. I do try and think before I speak but admittedly especially when I was much younger I tend to open my mouth too quickly. Still remember once I asked a new colleague whom I have just met how many months are you? To which she replied I’m not pregnant I’m just fat! Now how insensitive and embarrassed was I!? Turns out she’s just and a baby recently and so was still has that post baby bum and post baby fat. Lesson learnt for me though – to be more sensitive since and definitely think before I open my mouth!
Hi Winnie! Oh gosh, well I have done that before too (yes even with my mum’s advice). I returned to work at this place after many months and heard that this colleague was pregnant in the months that I was gone. When I met her again, I was talking to her as if she was still pregnant (lucky I never explicitly said she was pregnant), then she must have picked up on it and said “I gave birth a few weeks ago you know?” Major embarrassment!! But lucky I haven’t got to the point where I said anything about her pregnancy.
Yes yes yes, just bite your tongue and wait for them to answer. Funny creatures us humans 🙂 we need to listen more x
I agree 🙂